My Friday Five: On Olympics, Wyndham Championship & 90k

My Friday Five: On Olympics, Wyndham Championship & 90k

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about the whole USA Swimming/Ryan Lochte story. I won’t bore you with the details but I will give you my take. It’s a shame that this guy, who I’ve looked up to over the years, would stoop so low as to do this: lie about being robbed at gunpoint when, in all actuality, he and some of his swimming pals vandalized a local gas station in an apparent drunken stupor. Lochte’s actions were disrespectful to the host nation and a slap in the face to his home country. He has taken from the many great stories made by Team USA athletes in these Games. He should be ashamed and, in my view, should not be allowed to represent the United States in future Olympic competition. You’re 32 years old, representing your country on the sporting world’s biggest stage. Grow up! Oh, and his swimming pals are no better. They should, at least, be suspended and fined. Will all of this happen? Probably not but we’ll see.

2. Olympic Golf

Golf returned to the Olympics for the first time since the early 1900s, with the men competing last week and the women this week. Congrats to Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Matt Kuchar who won the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively in the men’s event and special congrats to Team USA’s Kuchar for having himself an incredible final round to claim the bronze! For the golfers that qualified and chose to compete, it was undoubtedly a life changing experience. And I can’t help but think that those who qualified and didn’t choose to compete (you know who you are) are regretting their decision – at least a little bit.

3. Olympic Food

Renowned chef, Massimo Batturo, is turning food that would otherwise be wasted by Olympic caterers into gourmet fare for Rio’s homeless population. According to an article from KATU, Batturo has provided food for the homeless for the past week through an establishment he set up called RefettoRio Gastromotiva. All in an effort to educate people about the some 800 million who go hungry in the world. How cool is that?!?

4. Wyndham Championship

The Wyndham Championship is back this week. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I was among many working at the PGA Tour tournament in Greensboro. I decided to go back, this time, as a spectator. I attended the Practice Round on Tuesday where I got to meet and get autographs from several players: Jonas Blixt, Carlos Ortiz, Cam Smith, Johnson Wagner, Ryan Moore (who just won the John Deere Classic last week) and Jim Furyk. Yes, THE Jim Furyk! I stayed out there for about six hours and I had a blast! I have to say I think I liked the Practice Round better than an actual competition round. Less crowds and a better chance to get up close and personal with some of the pros! Check out my Instagram for pictures from my time in Greensboro!

5. 90k!

This week, Reflections hit a milestone: 90,000 page views! I know many blogs and websites get that in a day or a week but, for a little blog that started a few years ago, I think this is a pretty awesome feat! And I owe it all to YOU my loyal readers!